Blue Jays' Colby Rasmus hoping less work brings more production in second half

TORONTO – John Gibbons and Colby Rasmus developed an instant rapport in spring training. Perhaps the bond was born in their common southern roots. Perhaps it also flowed from a contrast — Gibbons, the laid-back, quick-to-smile manager taking a shine to Rasmus, the quiet, demon-driven outfielder with a reputation for overwork.

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Gibbons also had heard about Rasmus’s fierce work ethic and his habit of taking it to extremes, often in a bid to compensate for perceived flaws in his performance. It was an addiction he carried from childhood. His father drove Rasmus and his three brothers hard. It was the way to the big leagues, Tony Rasmus told them, and they bought in.

But entering this season, Rasmus vowed to change the routine. In each of his four big-league seasons, his production plummeted in the second half. He was wearing himself out with work.

The evidence was especially pronounced last year. At the all-star break, Rasmus was batting .259 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs. After the break, his comparable numbers were .176-6-22.

Again this season, Rasmus entered the break on a roll. He has made good on his vow to go easier on himself, he says, although he admits the old habit is dying hard. He credits Gibbons with helping him stick to the new program.

“Gibby’s been awesome for me this year, just trying to get me to enjoy the game and not put so much [pressure] on myself to do good,” Rasmus said Friday before the Jays opened a series against Tampa Bay.

I worked so hard to get here and so hard to stay here, and sometimes you just have to let it be fun

“I worked so hard to get here and so hard to stay here, and sometimes you just have to let it be fun. I can’t just make it a constant grind — ‘I gotta hit more homers, I gotta hit for better average, I gotta do this, I gotta do that.’ I just try to get myself into a good positive frame of mind and get ready to play. To me it makes the game so much more fun and it makes it easier to play.”

That, more or less, is the message Gibbons has delivered since spring training.

“Basically,” Gibbons said, “the only thing I’ve said to him is, ‘Be smart. If you’re going good, don’t get yourself into any trouble.’ I’ve just said, ‘Enjoy the game. I don’t care how great your career is, it’s short-lived anyway. So enjoy it instead of beating yourself up and working yourself to death.’ ”

Beset by lofty expectations from childhood, Rasmus says it has taken a long time to drive off the demons that dogged him through his tumultuous years with the Cardinals and early in his time in Toronto. He has come to realize that extra work after a game is not always virtuous.

“Now when I have a bad day, instead of going and crushing myself in the weight room or going and taking 200 hacks in the cage, I just try to say, ‘No, I don’t need to do that because I work hard enough as it is,’ ” he said. “I know that I’m good enough and my talent will take over if I just let myself rest and give my body the rest that it needs.”

He entered the all-star break batting .263 with 16 homers, 48 RBIs and an .816 OPS. For July, he was batting .375 with a 1.080 OPS.

Now comes the test: to work just hard enough to stay strong and productive in the second half.

Gibbons said the Rasmus saga reminds him a little of Alex Rios, the former Blue Jay burdened with superstar expectations. Rios earned two all-star nods during his Toronto years.

“But it was almost like it was never enough,” Gibbons recalled. “I kind of view Colby as one of those guys. Nobody’s ever satisfied because they see the potential, they see the skills. That’s unfair to those guys. In time, that may come out. But be happy with what you’re doing, because what you’re doing is pretty damned good. Sometimes guys like that push themselves to do more and more and it ends up hurting them. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t push themselves, but they have to find balance, to get some enjoyment out of game.”

After a tense relationship with manager Tony La Russa in St. Louis, Rasmus says Gibbons and hitting coach Chad Mottola have let him be himself, rather than forcing him into a “cookie-cutter mold.” Asked what he means, he pauses for a good 10 seconds before offering a reply that he has obviously given much thought.

“What I mean by cookie-cutter is trying to make everybody live, eat, breathe the same thing,” he said. “We all come from different walks of life and we’re all from different places and we all have different upbringing. Not everybody can fit into a certain mold. We are individuals as players. To me it’s all about getting what’s in here [points to chest] and getting it out — not getting that seed and planting it in the ground and then putting shade over it so it can’t grow.”

Is that what happened in St. Louis? In previous interviews, Rasmus would probably have answered yes, and elaborated. Now, he says, he is determined to move on and stop talking about those days, at least for public consumption.

“I’m not about bashing anybody,” he said. “I’m not trying to get that in the paper and having them read it. That’s not what I’m about.”